If you have read any of my previous posts you know that when I visit a large touristy city I always like to seek out a nice Park-Villa Borghese is my choice in Rome.

One of the arches in the Villa Borghese park

I visit a park when I need a quiet break away from the hustle and bustle. Villa Borghese is a large beautiful quiet park, easy to reach on public transportation.

Garden and wall

I sometimes have trouble climbing up stairs so I take the bus to the Santa Maria del Popolo entrance. The bus goes through the arch and I get out at the first main street inside the park and spend the day walking through it-coming out at the top of the Spanish steps. It is much easier to walk down.

At the bottom of the Spanish steps is the piazza di Spagna and access to transportation. The metro Spagna is near there – we stayed in Trastevere on this trip so we took the bus.

Fountain river god Marjorie

The park reminds me of a modern albeit a very upscale subdivision. It is filled with luxury villas that were built originally as homes for the aristocracy. The grounds of these villas and public spaces are filled with beautiful gardens, fountains and statues of famous poets, writers, artists, philosophers and politicians. Many of the buildings are currently being used for museums art galleries and restaurants.

Beautiful villa

One of many beautiful villas

conservatory

The main building is the villa Borghese it houses Galleria Borghese with magnificent works of art. If you go late in the day it is less crowded. Another nice thing is they only allow a small number of people in at a time so it is a much more pleasant experience than you may have at the larger art galleries in Rome. It is really worth a visit. There is also a lovely gift shop in the villa with a separate entrance.

Galleria Borghese at Villa Borghese Rome

On this day we just walked, if you prefer there are several ways to get around in the park from Segway, bicycles for one, two or for family’s even a mini train.

Segway

The park is vast and apparently there is even a zoo though I have never visited it.

We stopped for a pleasant lunch at an outdoor café and rested. There is a variety of dining options scattered throughout the park.

Snack stand Villa Borghese

Sitting by the little lake it looked like a scene from a 19th century novel with couples paddling around in rented row boats with the sun sparkling on the water.

Small lake

Further into the park we happened upon whimsical looking children’s merry go rounds. Actually I never saw many children in Rome, as they have a low birthrate; that is until we were in the park. It was filled with families out for the day. Lots of mothers with strollers. We even saw a private school with elegantly dressed parents driving very expensive vehicles like Mercedes dropping off the children.

whimsical cars of a merry go round

There is wireless available, and the access areas are noted like street signs.

This way to WiFi

A large map is posted to help you navigate your way.

Map-Villa Borghese park Rome

We were lucky to reach the area above the Spanish steps just in time for the sun setting. We were able to see the beautiful vistas to take pictures.

looking down on Rome

Sunset over Rome

Villa Veneto

Then we headed to the area above the Spanish steps for an evening of window shopping along via Veneto with its very luxurious and fashionable boutiques, cafes, hotels and have something to eat and a rest with the crowds in the piazza below the bottom of the steps.

Spanish steps

It is crazy and filled with tourists so be careful of the gypsies as they hang out there trying to get your stuff.

I am usually very careful, but alas even I lost my transitional glasses to them at the Spanish steps.

I usually ignore them, however; they got me distracted by poking me with fake roses and the wire hurt. They pretended they wanted me to take one for free and just wouldn’t leave me alone.

No matter-these things happen, I can only blame myself, and it was still one of our most pleasant days spent in Rome.

I highly recommend a visit to villa Borghese if you have a free day.

Note: The park itself is free (80) hectares but there is a charge for entrance to the art galleries, and museums.

When I am in Italy of course I love to check out the art, the museums and the ruins but my second favourite thing to do is to eat. I am a foodie after all. The great thing about Italian food is that I can dine without adverse effects.

Some of the sites we visited before cooking a delicious meal back at our apartment.

The Colosseum Rome

Julius Caesar pointing the way

Victor Emmanuel monument Rome

They have good food in Italy…it’s cleaner than here in North America.

Food from the markets and shops in Rome

I have to be very selective when eating out in Canada because most of the restaurants lace the food with chemicals, and sulphites seem to be in everything these days. Most places even soak their French fries in sulphites before frying them! What is that about?

In Italy I eat out anywhere I want to without having to discuss ingredients before I order. I had many plates of food even some that contained salt and gluten. I know that isn’t a good thing to do for my health, but it just feels so freeing to not get a migraine, or asthma attach, the way I so often do when I eat out in Canada. I order with abandonment.

I even tried things like wild boar and Parma ham. This is not something I would do often if I lived there, but for a holiday it sure feels good.

cooking wild boar

Surprisingly my arthritis does not flare as much as one would think. Their bread is made with different types of old grain flours that contain less gluten than ours. I do swell from the salt so I will have to be more careful of that on future trips.

buffalo milk motzeralla

Al (my husband) said that the best meal had been one of the dinners we cooked for ourselves. It was fun to shop at the local food markets for the ingredients and everything was so fresh and delicious. We were staying in an apartment through home exchange so we had a nice kitchen and a balcony to enjoy our dessert outside after dinner. It was a simple pasta meal with a side of asparagus (it was in season at the time). We just threw a whole mess of ingredients together and I made a pesto with fresh basil. An easy dish to make after a day of seeing some sites.

Pasta dinner

Even when we purchase our own ingredients at home I have to be careful as GMO is not labelled. I do check the little stickers as they tell you if it is conventionally grown when it has four digits starting with the number 4. It is GMO when it has 5 starting with the number 8 and organically grown also has 5 digits starting with the number 9. And I check the ingredient list on the bottle as you can not trust what it states on the front label.

I never even gained any weight even with all the Gelato I ate almost dayly. I think it is because it is real food and of course all the walking we did most likely helped.

I hope that Italy never changes and always will have good clean food to eat.

Like this:

After our full day yesterday we planned on taking it easy this morning and washing some clothes.

Wash day in Italy

I proceeded to figure out the washing machine. I should have paid more attention when our host showed me how to use it, but I was so tired when we arrived I couldn’t concentrate. How hard could it be to use a washing machine anyway? I loaded it up with the delicate setting and waited for it to wash. It went through its cycle and finished but did not spin so I waited…oh oh, it started over again and again and again. Finally,I realized it was not going to spin and I took a chance and quickly grabbed the clothes before it started to fill again as it was a front loading. To my dismay I found some of my lingerie had no elastic left in them!

I was really careful with the next load, I noticed that the setting on the dial stated, “Cont”; I guess that means to continue, and it saves energy as it does not spin. You take the clothes out and wring them by hand. I didn’t save much energy on that first load. I found the settings for one short cycle with spin and made up for my earlier blunder.

Wash hanging on a line across balcony

Most people in this neighbourhood had no dryers; this is very common in most parts of the world. Here, in Trastevere and much of Italy the wash is strung across narrow roads, over balconies, on lines or a plastic twirler. I really enjoyed the fresh smell of the sheets. It reminded me of my mom hanging out clothes in our back yard when I was little; sometimes they froze stiff on the line, but no chance of that happening here.

Clothes hung on a twirler

I watched the ladies expertly handle those large sheets shaking them out bringing them together like an accordion; shaking some more until all the wrinkles were out, and then unfolding them over the railings to dry. I struggled with them and couldn’t imagine doing this week after week.

I always do a bit of hand washing at home and on the road, but I use my drier in Canada-I want to be energy conscious really…but just don’t want to take the time. Our condo association in Mexico made it a rule not to hang cloths over the balcony, not even a damp beach towel. It is strange because Mexicans, in general hang the wash. I suppose it is because the majority in our building are Canadian or from the United States.

Trevi fountain-Rome at night

When the wash was done and we were rested we headed out to see the Trevi fountain. It was nice to see it lit up at night, and of course we threw in our coins. We had to make sure we would be returning.

Like this:

Maybe other baby-boomers can relate to this. There comes a time in your life when you know you’re probably not going to sky dive or climb Mount Everest but you still can enjoy the outdoors; o.k. maybe skydiving is still on your bucket list. For me I can’t say these were ever on my list to start with but I get to enjoy the outdoors in my own way.

I found that the Cowichan Bay area has so much to offer in this respect. There is whale watching excursions, crabbing fishing, camping, hiking, picnicking, beaches, bird-watching, kayaking and playgrounds for children to name a few activities. There are bicycle trails, swimming holes, and tennis courts.

Welcome to Cowichan Bay

Sign up for whale watching

kayaking

Another thing that makes this place attractive for me is that it is only a half hour by car from Victoria and there is bus transportation.

Transportation on land

It is part of the Cowichan Valley district when the route is completed it will link all the communities with trails that will be uninterrupted for 122 km. I enjoyed a beautiful day, bird-watching and checking out the beaches, even though it was a little windy walking .

I passed many quaint cottages, Inns and B&B’s with neat names like Peggy’s cove ( maybe the owner of that one is transplanted from Nova Scotia).

Cottage named Peggy’s cove

B&B

old abandoned cottage

They are trying to control the development with new condos blending in with the current type of homes.

New condos

I walked over to Hegate Park. There were lots of benches to sit and rest have a snack and watch the activities on the water.

View of Cowichan Bay

Busy on the water

Then I visited the nature centre at the Cowichan estuary. There was a group of young people enjoying everything including the interpretative installations. They were stopping in from Alberta on a sailing trip around the Gulf Islands having great fun. We all enjoyed the wildlife viewing platform.

Estuary and nature centre

Flowers are coming up through the ground in the woods

Info signs placed all along estuary walk

There is a group of individuals that are protecting the heritage of the Qu’wut’sun people the ecosystem and adding to the uniqueness of this cittaslow community.

Have you ever found a gem of a place, close to home, that previously you never knew existed? That’s what I found last week on a visit to Cowichan Bay BC …cittaslow the first slow city in North America.

Cowichan bay BC Canada view from my room patio at Oceanfront suites

This was a business trip for my husband and as I can work from home or anywhere, I was able to join him. We stayed at Oceanfront suites in a one bedroom. Really nice for me as it was an efficiency suite. There was a nice pool that I swam in everyday. I met a nice friendly lady that told me about the aqua aerobic class and since I was going to be there at one of the class times I joined them. There was a $7.00 drop in or free to guests of the hotel. This was my first time doing this kind of activity and I really enjoyed it. The instructor was very nice and explained everything well.

View looking at the water side of Oceanfront suites Cowichan Bay BC Canada

While out for our first evening walk my spouse said , It reminds him of a village in France and at first I wasn’t so sure about that comment. After spending a few days wandering around I agree with him…there was something about the quality of life. It is a wonderful old fashion community. Maybe they were able to keep it this way, because as luck would have it they were bypassed by the Island highway. Everyone seemed so happy and friendly and the shopkeepers so helpful. We picked up essentials including a bottle of wine at the Market.

The next day I checked out the local shops.

Vickers art gallery

In the front of Naked mermaid massage is a neat store with all kinds of wonderful collectibles.

Naked mermaid Aromatherapy massage Cowichan bay BC Canada

The Naked mermaid has a great view from the massage table and they also sell natural make-up.

Naked mermaid Natural health and beauty

Purchased some great cheese and hand-made crackers.

Hilary’s cheese

True grain bread really fascinated me they mill the flour on site from old varieties of grain. I picked up their pamphlets and in them they write about gluten and modern wheat. Learn how humans have changed wheat and about grains before hybridization. This explains why I have less trouble with inflammation because of Rheumatoid arthritis when eating bread in countries like Italy.

True grain bread is like an old world European style bakery. ..fresh and organic.

True grain bread

Bread counter at true grain bread

Besides bread I bought a bag wonderful ginger cookies.

True grain bread mill and sell flour on site

Have coffee or tea with your goodies

I had a nice cup of organic tea and an apple strudel for breakfast.

When I was exiting the back door I noticed this sign that explained why this town gave off such good vibes. It lays out the rules they follow that lets them belong to an international network of towns where quality of life is paramount.

cittaslow sign

The more I find out about this town the more I like it. When I got home I investigated more and found a list of these communities. It turns out that I have been to another one of these on the list…The wonderful town of Greve in Italy.

Have you ever visited a cittaslow community? I would love to hear about your experience.

You can print out map for directions to Vatican city when you purchase your ticket on line

For some reason God must have thought that we needed to be cleansed before entering the Vatican museum as he released a torrent of rain upon us. It was as if he dropped buckets of water over our heads. We were drenched going from the bus to the entrance of the museum. In Italy it can come down so suddenly and the water rushes down the sidewalks and gutters. In the autumn an umbrella is useless, you really should have some plastic to put on like a poncho and plastic boots, even if they look awful.

ticket for Vatican Museum

Because i had purchased our tickets on-line along with our entry time we only had to pass through security, show our passport and trade our printed voucher for a ticket.

Don’t just show up as even in low season the lines can be crazy. I lost my husband but a really nice Italian lady saved my place while I went back to find him.

Line up to Vatican post office

lay out map of Vatican museum

You can pick up a layout map of the museum.

Then the sun came out and we sat in the courtyard and dried off. There was a feeling that maybe we had been given a fresh start for the day. All the rushing in the rain left us in a high energy mood and this was very calming. It was very peaceful to sit there and just take it all for time.

First Court yard after entering the Vatican museum

Looking at the Vatican garden

A ticket can be purchased to include the gardens also and as much as I love to stroll through these peaceful places, physically it would be too much to include in one day ( for me). To view a glimpse of it left me wanting more but it will have to wait for a return visit.

If you have a chance, do go see the Vatican museum. If you love art, you will not be disappointed. I especially liked the Raphael room and the maps. We wandered through many other rooms including, ceramics, Roman antiquities, and tapestries…the museum is vast.

Ceiling of map room- Vatican museum

pine cone in court yard vatican museum

We rested while having an inexpensive lunch in the modern cafeteria of pizza and sandwiches. The washroom was very nice and clean.

The paintings were much brighter than I had expected. It always amazes me at how it takes my breath away and sometimes brings tears to my eyes seeing familiar works of art up close for the first time. I was concerned about not being able to look up without falling over but it was taken care of for me. I was grateful when I saw the seats. There are benches with plastic backs that you could rest against in order to view the ceiling.

They very generously allowed cameras without flash everywhere except the Sistine chapel as this is a very sacred place. It amazed me that they had to announce this as people just would not follow this rule.

I had to be selective of course as to what museums and galleries that we would visit on this trip. There are always the time constraints and I am not one to rush around just to tick it off some list. I thought if there was one thing in Rome, that I would regret if I missed it, than that is what I need to purchase tickets for. The Sistine chapel was it.

You can go out after this but we continued onto Saint Peters cathedral from the chapel.

St Peters cathedral – holy water

Alter St Peters Cathedral

Like all churches St. Peters is free so even if you don’t purchase tickets to the museum or Sistine Chapel you can line up outside the church. The lines are long but move quickly.

St Peters Cathedral

Bernini’s fountain

Swiss guards

Then we looked around the city and did some shopping and ate. It is a very well kept place with lovely shops and restaurants. We rested in a little park and then took the number 23 bus home.

After the flea market and resting up a bit back at the apartment we headed into Rome on the bus 170. We intended to get off at Piazza Venezia but the bus was so crowded that we could not see out and ended up at the end of the line…the Termini station. We were literally packed so tight we couldn’t move. Is this off season? It didn’t matter, we never had any plans so walking around from there was just as good.

Rome is crazy high energy and the traffic is insane and even though it was October there were still many tourists. As it turns out we discovered on another evening that this day was actually fairly quiet in comparison.

There were lots of people making their way to various hotels pulling suitcases over the cobbles and people taking pictures everywhere.

The buildings of Rome are colossal, and of course there is history and excavations and restorations at every turn of a corner.

The hotels in this area are very upscale and even the building that houses McDonalds is beautiful.

There are lots of lovely cafes under the colonnades and stands selling souvenirs beverages and snacks.

Some of the things we saw were:

Fountain of the Naiad

an ancient wall and the baths of Diocleation that have been converted into a church.

Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

We headed back on the 170, we needed to rest up for the next day. This was going to be the first scheduled event for us. I booked the Vatican museum and the Sistine chapel for the next day. I purchased the voucher on line at the Vatican website so we could skip the ticket purchasing queue. We printed out a map and directions before leaving home.

I pulled out all our maps and tickets that we brought with us and used my new portable office to check out what bus to take.

I had a little trouble setting my alarm clock as it was on a new phone. I had to set the date and time to Rome first. Our appointment was for 10:00 and we could not be late.

I didn’t plan a lot ahead for this trip as I new from studying art history that it would get overwhelming if I tried to fit too much in. There was just so much that I would like to see, it would have been hard to choose.

I thought a very loose itinerary was better and it was low season. If we had to wait in a long line we could pick something else. My spouse prefers this, but normally I have to book skip the line in high season, because of my inflammation. Going in October is giving us a chance to take it more day by day.

Not visiting the Sistine chapel would have been the one thing in Rome that really would have disappointed so I purchased tickets ahead.

On Sunday Oct. 14th we headed down the street to check out the Porta Portese flea market. I had read about this market but had no idea that it would be so close to us until my home exchange hosts told me about it. There are about 3.5 km of stalls set by people from all over Trastevere and some bring their goods in from nearby towns. What great luck. People come from all over Rome for bargains, it is popular with Romans, immigrants and also tourists like me. It opens around 6:30 A.M and goes until about 2 P.M.

Plant stall

I understand that you really have to watch your wallet as there are lots of pick pockets lurking about.

One will find almost anything from trendy cloths, new items, sun glasses, baked goods, shoes, produce, furniture and antiques to brick- a-brack. It had a bit of everything and the tables just went on and on.

Canaries for sale

We had so much fun checking everything out. I saw a Venetian glass chandelier and I thought…I want that. Then on second thought I would have to have it shipped home and I would have to haggle for a good price, so I changed my mind. I am sure that if I lived in Rome I would have purchased all kinds of things I don’t need.

Venetian glass chandelier

I dove right into the action and started rooting around in the bins of clothes.

My red bag from Porta Portese flea market for 5 Euros.

I did buy a coat in the new spring green color for only 2 euros, 2 scarves for 1,50 euros each and a red leather bag for 5 euros. I couldn’t believe that I got such good deals.

There were so many things I liked but it would be to much trouble to cart them back to Canada.

My 2 Euro coat from Porta Portese Flea market

Collectibles

All kinds of books

We got some rustic bread to take back to the apartment and some sweet rolls to eat while resting on a bench in a nearby park.

Park near Porta Portese flea market

Everything you could imagine for sale

umbrellas for sale

Colorful ceramics

Bargain hunting at the Porta Porteses flea market

It was a beautiful sunny day to do a little people watching. Everyone seemed to really enjoy their bargain hunting and it was a fun day for me that I am sure to remember. Do you have a favorite flea market?

On our third evening (Saturday, Oct. 13th) we made it to Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere and as luck would have it we were just in time for Saturday evening mass at the basilica. This is one of the oldest churches in Rome and it was such a privilege to be able to join the parishioners in such a lovely setting.

Everything doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. A nice time can be had just enjoying the little things in life. Even souvenirs don’t always have to be expensive. For a donation you can pick up these little cards with prayers and information about the church your visiting. It helps them with maintenance, and they become a nice little memento for a scrapbook.

Little prayers, poems and information

Santa Maria Trastevere

Santa Maria in Trastevere

Santa Maria Trastevere

Santa Maria Trastevere

Young people gathering at the fountain in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere

The square becomes very livley as the evening goes on and young people start to gather for the partying that will take place through the night.

There are many shops and restauants and it is less hectic than other parts of Rome, with a really nice atmospher and people out for an evening stroll. The food is good and even though it is touristy the prices were reasonable.

We joined in the strolling and checking out the shops and making our way over a nearby bridge to get a good look at the Tiber. It was very romantic with lots of young lovers on the bridge enjoying the beautiful evening.

We had what was becomming our daily fix of geloto for another lovely day in Rome and with perfect weather. (mine was pistachio and Al’s was chocolate)

The first couple of days we just got settled in and recuperated a bit from our long trip and explored our area in Trastevere. There was a modern grocery store called Simply and we got the basics like tea and coffee, some fruit, milk a few veggies and chicken. We picked up Grilled chicken to eat that first night. It seems like this is becomming a ritual picking up what we call happy chicken on our first night in a new place.

There were lots of nice food shops within a few blocks like bakeries, bread shops, small groceries with fresh produce, cheese, wine, and soft just made pasta, buffalo mozzarella and gelato. Everything we would need. We would buy our food at these little shops while we were in Trastevere. There were also lots of nice clothing stores, shoe stores, pharmacies…everything you would need right in our community.

clothing store in Trastevere

The meat shop near our apartment in Trastevere

Fresh produce and a freindly helpful owner

On the second night we took tram 8. We planned on getting out at the Piazza Santa Maria but missed the stop and ended up at the end of the line at Largo Argentina. What good luck as we got to see our first ruins, the spot that Brutus and the other conspirators stabbed Julius Cesar.

Ruins at Largo Argentina

It was a lovely area and we strolled around and got our first gelato before heading back.

Largo Argentina area

Fountain at Largo Argentina area

When we got back to the tram, it was stopped and empty and every one was standing around.

number 8 tram

People were confronting the driver and he was throwing his arms in the air gesturing , from what I could deduce, was that it wasn’t his fault or what could he do. We decided it must be broken down. He moved over to a little grass area and I followed him and asked if there was another tram coming. He said a replacement bus to take us back would arrive in a few minutes. True to his word a bus came and picked us up.

This was also good luck for us as it took us on a kind of free night-light tour of Rome on the way home. We saw lots of buildings lit up in all their grandeur. It dropped us off right at the corner by the Trastevere station.

Since inconveniences seemed to turn to good fortune I was certain that Rome would be a lucky place for us.